Scrounge Legends Class Figure (Combiner Wars)

Scrounge is the bonus member of the Hasbro Technobots set. He first appeared in issue #17 of Marvel's Transformers comic. His alternate mode is a wheel and he has a special arm. This figure is a basically Cosmos with a new head and comes with Cybaxx who could be a stand-in for the aforementioned "special arm." I liked Cosmos' figure so it was pretty likely that I'd like Scrounge too. I need to figure out how to take better pictures of the bright yellow figures I have but that's future ISMOTU's problem. Scrounge is a fun and welcome addition to Hasbro's Computron set.
(Robot Mode)(Vehicle Mode)

Scattershot Voyager Class Figures (Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors)

Scattershot is the leader of the Technobots. His figure is a retool of Silverbolt from the Aerialbots. The main differences between the Hasbro and TakaraTomy figures are the chest pieces, the colour schemes, and some details in the torso mode (seen here). I don't really have a preference between these two. They both look pretty good in all modes. Hasbro's comes with a magenta version of Silverbolt's weapons while TakaraTomy's has two maroon blasters that combine with the other Technobots' weapons to form a giant blaster for Computicon.

(Combiner Wars)(Unite Warriors)(Technobots Together)

Nosecone Deluxe Class Figures (Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors)

Nosecone transforms into a drill tank and he was one figure I really preferred in the TakaraTomy set over the Hasbro set. The Hasbro Nosecone has a pretty lame drill and is a retool of Combiner Wars Brawl. The figure has a weird waist and the legs are not that great. TakaraTomy Nosecone is a retool of Combiner Wars Rook who was a very cool figure so that plus the giant drill gives him the leg up. I like the orange/yellow/brown colour scheme of both Nosecones.

(Combiner Wars)(Unite Warriors)(Technobots Together)

Lightsteed/Lightspeed Deluxe Class Figures (Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors)

Lightspeed (renamed Lightsteed for the Hasbro release) is the racecar Technobot. Hasbro took a mould that transformed into a police car and then just tried to paint it to look like the original toy while TakaraTomy took Wheeljack's mould and gave him a new head that's a bit more like the original than Streetwise's. This guy is the most boring of the Technobots to me. He's red and white and bland all over. Ok maybe that's a bit harsh, he's a decent figure in both incarnations but neither is my favourite in either set.

(Combiner Wars)(Unite Warriors)(Technobots Together)

Afterbreaker/Afterburner Deluxe Class Figures (Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors)

Afterburner is the motorcycle member of the Technobots. He's renamed Afterbreaker in the Hasbro set. These two are the most identical of all the Technobots as they are straight repaints. Afterbreaker is the orange one with the green eyes, Afterburner sports the red and white colour scheme with the blue eyes. I really like the basic design of this figure and the two paint jobs really do make the figures look very different.

(Combiner Wars)(Unite Warriors)(Technobots Together)

Strafe Deluxe Class Figures (Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors)

My favourite of the Technobots Strafe transforms into some sort of 80's-tacular Cybertronian spaceship. I think it's the orange cannons and the just general design of the starfighter. Since Transformers fiction spans such a wide range of media my connection to specific figures tends to be more aesthetic than character based as it might be with say the Marvel or DC figures I collect. There are certainly exceptions to that but yeah I don't remember any of Strafe's personality traits from the G1 cartoon or the Marvel Transformers series. Let's be honest, with so many characters to feature if you're not Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, or Starscream, you're lucky to have a personality of any kind.

(Combiner Wars Strafe)(Unite Warriors Strafe)(Technobots Together)

Computron & Computicon (Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors)

Those in the know about Transformers are aware that Hasbro makes the figures for most of the world but TakaraTomy produces he Japanese versions and comparisons between the two are not always favourable. I was fortunate enough to visit Tokyo a few years back and picked up some Japanese exclusive dudes while there but since then I've resisted ordering the Japanese versions of figures I can get here in Canada. Until the Technobots came around.

During the Combiner Wars phase of Transformers Generations Hasbro based their paint and deco on the original G1 toy versions and TakaraTomy based theirs on the original cartoon versions. I was able to get my hands on the Combiner Wars Computron box set last year and was super happy with it for the most part. The Technobots were colourful and the combiner hands and feet were cool and slightly better than the accessories from the individual figures. But there were a few things about the Unite Warriors Computicon box set that appealed to me as well (Mainly Strafe and Nosecone). So after resisting for quite a while I finally bit the bullet and ordered the TakaraTomy version from Mandarake. So here we have both versions side by side, to be followed at a more frequent pace by the individual Technobots.  I try not to buy doubles of figures but these sets are different enough that I'm glad to have both.

(Combiner Wars Computron)(Unite Warriors Computicon)(Technobots Together)

Golden Age Sandman (DC Universe Classics)

Wesley Dodds donned a gas mask, cape, and fedora to haunt the dreams of evildoers as the Sandman!
The golden age Sandman is very much in the vein of earlier pulp heroes like the Shadow and the Green Hornet. His original costume as seen here was just a suit with a cape and a crazy looking gas mask. His gas gun spewed a harmless sleeping agent and he dynamically ran everywhere. Later on he was given a skintight yellow and purple costume and a sidekick named Sandy and was notable for being the feature Joe Simon & Jack Kirby worked on after leaving Captain America. It was in this original garb that he joined the Justice Society of America and in a more drab "realistic" version he starred in the excellent Vertigo series "Sandman Mystery Theatre."

This figure has your typical DCUC articulation but his legs are limited by the suit coat. His cape causes the figure to lean back but not topple over. The gas gun fits nicely in his hand or hooks into the loop near his hip pocket. A simple figure with the bright garish colours that befit his 1940's origins.

Twinferno Deluxe Class Figure (Titans Return)

Twinferno began toy-life as the much lamer named Doublecross a Monsterbot from 1987. This figure updates the articulation and transformation scheme (like most Generations figures) and gets a more badass (and trademark-able) name. I must say that I love the whole "monster heads-as-hands" schtick even if it means he looks kind of silly holding his blasters. Luckily they thought of that too and his guns plug nicely onto his shoulders. The only bit of articulation that I feel is missing on this dude is a swivel at the base of his monster heads/wrists which would allow for better arm poses. The legs are a little wonky when transforming into beast mode but not abysmal. A fun design where the heroic Autobot robot mode clashes with the fierce two-headed dragon mode. (But in a good way!)

(Titan Master)(Robot Mode)(Beast Mode)

Triggerhappy Deluxe Class Figure (Titans Return)

Triggerhappy was originally a Targetmaster in the original Generation 1 toyline but is now a Titan Master with a really great transformation scheme. This mould gets reused for several other figures and I legitimately wanted to collect them all because this guy's great.

Jump to: (Titan Master)(Robot Mode)(Vehicle Mode)

Elita-1 Voyager Class Figure (Power of the Primes)

As a nerd with collection sensibilities I generally like to impose some sort of order to what I do on this blog even if occasionally that system is just doing something different for variety's sake. I have been a little all over the place when it comes to posts about Transformers but the majority have been about the "Titans Return" phase of the Transformers Generations line because that's what was on the shelves when I started. And while I've hopped back to figures from other times I kind of had it in my brain that I was going to be roughly chronological with any new purchases and thus the latest "Power of the Primes" phase would not get blog attention for a while. But then Hasbro decided to lean even harder into the nostalgia factor (which Transformers Generations has been built upon since it launched in 2010) by using a bunch of foil stickers on the larger figures. As a child in the eighties and nineties I remember the sticker sheets that would come with various toys and how frustrating it could be to place the stickers in the right spots. So on the one hand I'm glad the stickers came pre-applied on the other hand they are stickers whose corners have a tendency to peel in certain areas, especially on Transformers. So I had noticed that Elita-1's stickers were just starting to have this problem and I felt better get pictures of her now before the stickers get any worse.

Robot Mode (Vehicle Mode) (Torso Mode)

Golden Age Atom (DC Universe Classics)

Al Pratt is the Golden Age Atom. Tired of being ridiculed for is height Al Pratt dons a costume and takes the name Atom personifying its meaning of small but also powerful. The Atom's costume is a very typical golden age uniform that's basically a cobbled together wrestling outfit with a mask and cape. Later on Pratt would gain super powers and adopt a new costume as of Flash Comics #98 in 1948. This is a pretty standard DC Universe Classics figures and comes with no accessories which is fine because this Atom is just a brawler.